This invention relates in general to footwear, and more particularly, to a shoe containing illumination and also an outsole containing illumination.
Children have taken a liking to shoes having illumination of one type or another incorporated into them. Typically, the shoe contains a light emitting diodes (LED) in its upper or along its sole and a battery and energizing circuitry in its heel. When the child, while walking or running, steps on the heel, the circuitry momentarily impresses an electrical potential across the LED and it illuminates it. Where the shoe contains multiple LEDs, the circuitry may illuminate them in a predetermined sequence. To a measure, the illuminated shoe represents a novelty, but when worn at night, it makes the child more visible, and thus provides the child with a measure of safety.
But an LED does not emit much light, and the light which it does emit is highly concentrated. Thus, a shoe having multiple LEDs appears to have points of light, but not wide regions of illumination.